In Florida accident injury law, like most states, requires that when a motor vehicle crash is brought to the attention of law enforcement agencies a crash report be prepared by the investigating officer. This requirement is set forth in section 316.066 of West's Florida Statutes Annotate. Section 316.066(1)(a) provides that the report must be filed no later than ten days when an accident results in death or injury, when a party involved flees the scene of the accident, when a party is under the influence of alcohol, or when a vehicle is so damaged it must be towed1. In order for an investigating officer to properly investigate a crash scene, there must be cooperation from the parties involved.
Since providing information to the investigating officer may put parties in the position of making incriminating statements against themselves, section 316.066(5) allows a privilege for such statements given to a law enforcement while conduction and investigation. The privilege protects the speaker's 5th amendment right by keeping such statements from being used against the speaker in a civil or criminal trial. However, not everything included in the crash report is covered by this privilege Salama v. McGregor outlines what is not covered by the privilege.
"The privilege does not, however, preclude admission of the tangible evidence of an automobile accident, such as 'location of accident, vehicles' locations, skid marks, damage to vehicles, all observed by the investigating officer. All this information ordinarily appears on the accident report prepared by the investigating police officer and it is clearly admissible at trial."
Salama also points out that the accident reporting privilege may be waved.
"...a party may waive the accident report privilege if that party opens the door by introducing inadmissible information contained in the accident report."
In Addition to waiver, Florida has set out some important exceptions to the accident reporting privilege. One such exception is when the identity of the driver is not clear; "...there is an exception to the privilege and confidentiality of an accident report, filed pursuant to Chapter 316 of the Florida Statutes (1981), when the identity of the driver is an issue."
The second exception to the accident reporting privilege is when a party to an accident refuses to submit to a blood-alcohol test, after a police officer has lawfully requested it , is not coerced by the officer, and thus not protected by the privilege against self-incrimination." Since the accident report privilege is meant to protect parties' Fifth Amendment right, and the united states supreme court has deemed that refusal to submit to a blood -alcohol test does not fall within that right, the privilege does not apply.
The third exception occurs when the person who has given a statement to the investigating officer is not actually involved in the accident or the statement is not related to the cause of the accident. In Wisev. W.U. Telegraph Co., the employer of a party involved in a crash came to the scene after the crash occurred The employer told the investigating officer that the party was in the scope of his employment at the time of the accident. The defendant asked the court to exclude the statement by the employer under the accident reporting privilege. The court help that every made does not necessarily itself and it should be made by someone who is actually involved in the accident. The court allowed the statement to come in because the employer was not "present at the time of the, had no first-hand knowledge of any matter affecting the circumstances of the accident, and the statement made does not necessarily come under the privilege. The statement should have some bearing on the investigation itself and it should be made by someone who is actually involved in the accident. The court allowed the statement to come in because the employer was not "present at the time of the accident, had no first hand knowledge of any matter affecting the circumstances of the accident, and the statement attributed to him was not with respect to the cause of the accident or circumstances under which the accident occured." Similarly, in McTevia v. Schrag, a witness made a statement to investigating officer at the scene of the crash stating that he did not witness the accident. The witness later went to the police station and changed his statement. The plaintiffs wished to have the witness' first statement excluded under the accident reporting privilege. The court held that the first statement was admissible. A witness is not a party and is required to make n accident report. Therefore, such statements are not covered by the reporting privilege.
